Rush Strong School Sewer Issues Still up in Air
After several years of debating options, multiple correspondence between the Jefferson County School System and the Tennessee Environmental Department, and repeated findings of that exceed acceptable limits on the Rush Strong School’s levels of ammonia and Ecol i, as well as others, there is still no definitive answer to the question- is Rush Strong School’s sewage treatment meeting state and federal guidelines. According to the Deputy Communications Director for TDEC, Eric Ward, there has been no determination if the engineering and maintenance on the school’s treatment process has corrected a problem that landed them on the federal EPA list last year.
Earlier this year, it was decided that accurate levels could not be identified until school was in session for several weeks and correspondence between the school system and TDEC indicated that, as of the end of the last school year, corrective action had brought levels down but they were still not in line with federal and state regulations. In early July, TDEC representatives traveled to the school and met with school system officials regarding the issue. It was determined that the schools would run the system for two months, August and September, to get a realistic picture of how the system functions when school is at full capacity, and then report to TDEC in October regarding the viability of the system and the next step for corrective action. As of press date, there has been no update to the Rush Strong School’s file, tn0061476, and Ward responded via email that “… it is too early to speculate as too whether the changes have made a positive, continuous impact…”.
Beyond the impact to the school, the system also impacts the Holston River, which was listed #3 on the 2015 list of America’s Most Endangered Rivers. The most recent filings from the Jefferson County Department of Education are in regard to the Certified Operator in Direct Charge of the treatment facility and/or collection system. In a filing dated as received on August 28, 2015, Herbert M. Norton was listed as the Certified Operator for Talbott, Piedmont, Jefferson County High School, Mount Horeb and Rush Strong Schools. Norton is contracted by the Jefferson County Department of Education to service these sites.
County Commissioner for the 6th District, Robert Blevins, stated “ This has been an ongoing concern for our community. The potential impact for our children and the Holston River, which is a integral part of our community, could be enormous. It is simply not acceptable for either the Department of Education or TDEC to drag their feet getting the testing needed to either close the issue or go back to the drawing board to fix the system. As a Commissioner for District 6, I am concerned and expect that all parties involved will do what is necessary to conduct proper testing and take action. But, I am not just a Commissioner, I am first and foremost a parent that has a student at Rush Strong School. We have wonderful teachers and staff at Rush Strong and I know that it is difficult when they have to deal with parental concerns about the sewage system at the school. Parents are rightly concerned. I am concerned and, as a parent, I am not willing to wait for answers that should have been available last month.” As the school moves toward its fourth month of operation, concerned parents and a community that centers around the Holston River wait to see what next step is available or if, for the first time in years, the hazardous levels from sewer issues at Rush Strong School are finally fixed.
